Someday the world will thank me for organizing the internet:

After the jump are as many of the hot viral Christian music videos. See, doesn't the internet feel smaller already?



Jesus Is My Friend by Sonseed-



The Renewed Mind Is The Key-
The Renewed Mind Is The Key...to bad dancing



David Crowder Covering Sonseed-


I'll update this anytime another hot-one comes down the pipe.

File in the gARRRRRRbage:

Today as many o' ye know be "Talk like a Shipmate tide." Swabbies all o'er th' world be sayin' Arr an' Avast. I found a wee links that will help ye get into th' spirit o' things. Check them ou' after th' jump.


First is the delightful little English to Pirate translator that I used to dialectify my opening statement. It's found here.

The other is the supposed original "Talk like a Pirate Day" website. It's chock full of pirate like info. It has a creepy Jimmy Buffett feel to it. Enjoy!

Don't forget to keep an eye on the Flickr picture stream for this years festivities.

Last but not least is the end all be all of knowledge, the mighty Wikipedia. Here's the wiki for TLAPD.

I hope this helps ye t' fully embrace yer inner Buccaneer durin' this most hallowed o' holidays.

yar?

I think this is why I'm a jerk:

I was over at TYVZ and I came across this post.  I didn't really read it because I saw the word over there on the left.  The author used it to describe himself.  I don't know if he's a jerk like me or not, but take the jump to find out why I think this word finally sums up why I'm such a profound jerk.


If you're buying, then I'm going to be selling.  If you're excited, then I'm going to bring up the other side.  If you're having a bad day, I'll remind you to be chipper.  If you like something, I'll find something wrong with it.  If it's supposed to be amazing, I'll avoid it like the plague. 

Long story short, I think I'm smarter than you.  Whoever you are, I probably think I'm smarter than you.  Even if I think you're smarter than me at this moment, I'm pretty sure that at some point I'll get the one up on you in the brains department.  I think I know more than you and that is easy to think because I probably don't think you know much at all.  This is my mindset and it is obnoxious.

I'd be stupid to say this is my cross to bear.  This is actually one of MANY crosses to bear.  I'm actually more like a burden viewing station than a person.  Come by sometime and check out my personality faults.  You know, the ones I use humor to cover up.

I'm contrarian and I miss out on a lot of things because of that.  I've missed out on so much of the joy and good that comes with knowing Christ.  If you're experiencing the love of Christ, I'm probably reminding you that you need to study and suffer.  That's just what I do.  I'm a jerk.

My new mantra is working on this.  "I Can't".  Restructuring my thoughts to involve others has become a necessary and vital part of my life and ministry.  Because I'm better and smarter than you, I can't trust you to do anything, right?  So, I'm having to change that thought process and it's Christ working in me to do it.  I want people in my life and I want to share and work with them.  

God is in fact using my wife to do this.  I have to trust her, even though I think I could do it better.  I thank God for him humbling me with through my wife.  I can't be a contrarian with her and expect to have a happy home life or fulfill my role as husband and head of the family.  

This is all a little tongue and cheek, maybe it's even a little inflated, but it's still a fact.  My sinfulness drives me to think that I'm the best thing around.  That is my struggle.  I'm prideful.  Don't be like me, don't be a contrarian.  Be like Christ.

And the party don't stop till 7:30 in the evening:

Today is respect for the aged day in Japan.  Here in America there are 37.3 Million people over the age of 65.  When I'm a senior citizen the estimate is that there will be over 80 million senior citizens.  I suddenly feel like we're running out of room.  There is no jump, the elderly do not jump.

And here is the rest of it.

3 months ago:

I was in the middle of taking pictures after becoming wedded to my beautiful wife. I am more thankful for these last three months than any other period in my life. I've grown as an adult, a Christian, and a husband more than I could ever imagine. She is a gift and I am thankful for her. And here is the rest of it.

The front fell off:

It's kind of like it was written by the guys in Monty Python, but it wasn't scripted at all. Take the jump to see the video.

Refuge '08

I recently attended a youth minister focused time of worship and teaching in Birmingham, AL. It was fantastic, I have to recommend anyone who has the chance to get involved with student life. They are the real deal. Take the jump to read a little about the impact of this event.

Louie Giglio, Chris Tomlin, David Platt, Kristian Stanfill, the list sounds like a who's who in popular Christian culture. Well, that's actually pretty accurate. The event brought out some big guns, and it was free. The best in music and speaking for those of us doing ministry. It was touching that they would put on something like this for us, but then the whole thing actually started. From moment one my typically jaded, sarcastic take on things that are popular faded. Chris Tomlin shared his heart and it wasn't flashy or showy. The kicker is he did it between stops on his national radio tour. He could have been home or sleeping and he played a free show for us.

Louie Giglio took the stage and broke from his usual smooth delivery and just kind of talked about his church for a while. Then he talked about grace. My new battle cry, "I Can't", was born from his talk. Jesus Christ is the only hope of anything happening in our ministry. This theme has appeared and been resonant in my life for a few weeks now. From my time going through Experiencing God to this weekend, I'm reminded that God is doing and doesn't need me, but invites me to join in.

That was the first night. The next nights were filled with Kristian Stanfill's music and passion. I was not a fan of Stanfill's going into this. I had no idea what he was about and I really hadn't heard his music, basically I was rebelling against something popular. I was so wrong. Stanfill is a white hot, blazing, furnace of joy for his Messiah. That poured into his times of worship leading with us. I was blessed to have watched him sing praises to our God. That night Randy Hall spoke, you don't know Randy, but you should. He's the man at the helm of Student Life.

Randy shared a message that followed suit for my life. That we are not in control. Also, he gave us a new definition of youth ministry. I'll put it up if anyone is interested.

The last night was all David Platt, the man quoted Romans 1-8. That is not a typo, I didn't forget the chapter, he did all 8 chapters because, as Luther said, "You can't understand Romans 9 until you understand Romans 1-8." Then after he got my attention he used the truth of scripture to shatter me. In short you can sum up his message as this. "If you believe the first 8 chapters, then you carry the burden of the 9th." Even shorter, 1/3 of all humanity is presently storing up God's wrath and will eventually be in an eternal hell. I hadn't heard it in a while and I needed to. We don't get to pick and choose what part of God's word is a privilege and which part is a burden. God calls everyone to global missions. That's what I was left with and that's what you get left with. Gospel truth, you are called to global missions, figure out how.

Bad movies and the trailers that love them:

When I was growing up, I stayed with my grandmother pretty regularly. She had chores and there were no kids in the neighborhood, so I watched a lot of tv. She didn't have cable so I watched a lot of basic channels. Here's the thing, in the late 80's and early 90's the basic channels played Soap Operas or really really B grade movies (is there a C grade?). I imagine this is where my love for B movies started.

After the jump I have the trailer for one of the worst/best movies I saw as a kid. It played every couple weeks and I would watch it all the way through every time. Keep an eye out for, a big eyeball, Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite, and the greatest monologue ever performed by an alien.


I give to you, Terror Vision.



Did you catch everything? Were you able to finish the whole trailer in spite of your fear? Remember this was one of my favorite movies growing up.

I have to ask you, do you remember when trailers where this bad? It seems like now the trailer is as well produced as the movie. As I wrote that I realized the idea stands true for this movie, the trailer, was in fact, as well produced as the movie.

As a point of comparison, I'm including the trailer to the greatest movie of all time, unquestionably, the greatest most life altering film ever to be created or which ever will be created.

I used to work at a music store:

I'm not going to say which music store I worked at, because I'll probably say something harsh about them and they have sued people before. I'll leave it at this, I used to work with the guys in these next videos.

The first guy asked me to sit in with him when his drummer was unable to make it. It was fun, they were totally into RATT and 80's hair metal. I couldn't hold a candle. I got to play with the bassist for the band Loud Flower during that session also. It was neat. Scott was one of the few cool guys at the music store.

The second guy was probably the most laid back guy there. They both worked in the guitar department so they really could have taken a dump on someone and not have caught any flack about it. Which I guess helps you be laid back. They are both really exceptional musicians and it's nice to see them play, because artistry felt a little stifled while I was there.

Check the videos out after the jump. They are just product commercials, but it's still neat that I found them on youtube.

P.S. I'm a depressing movie

Over at my other blog, The Human Bladder I just wrote a bladder sized review of "P.S. I Love You" and felt like the movie had this hidden message about the Christian world view and how we deal with loss. I'm pretty sure that it wasn't intentional as there are no Christian overtones or character traits in the movie, it's more what I saw a lack of in the movie that got me thinking. Take the jump to read more about it.

Jennie and I watched this movie and she cried throughout the entire thing. It is a genuinely sad movie. Here's the rundown of the plot, don't read it if you are going to see the movie. Hillary Swank is madly in love with Gerard (This Is Sparta!!!!) Butler and he is seemingly more in love with her. She's the nervous worrier and he is the care free Irish karaoke singer. They fight, they make up, and they are super in love. Then he dies of a brain tumor.

Hillary is done. She has resigned herself to being a hermit in her apartment watching old movies and drinking. Her friends intervene. One of the weird parts of this movie has to do with the time table for mourning that every except Swank has. Within hours everyone has a really chipper outlook and seems to want Hillary to assimilate it. The friends and mom bust into the apartment to celebrate her big 3-0. A cake arrives that says it is from Gerard (This is Cake!!!!) and it has a tape attached to it.

From that point on Swank receives letters from her dead husband that he set up before hand. It's sweet and creepy. Which also sums up Harry Connick Jr.'s role. The letters run a gamut from, "Go clubbin' wit da girlies! WooT WoOt!1!" to "Go to Ireland." She's happy then she's sad, then she sleeps with a guy which makes her both happy and sad. Finally she just loses it and runs crying to her mother/Cathy Bates. With a ton of pathos she cries out to her mom about how nothing will ever fill the void her husband left and that no matter what, she is alone. To which her mother replies, "Yep."

So here's where I started thinking. I believe my wife and I love each other as deeply as theses characters, my guess is even more so. We both were effected by the thought of losing each other that this movie brought up. The thing is though, we both know that if the other goes, we're not alone. We know that we aren't going to be eternally separated. We have hope.

The characters in this movie have no hope outside of what's going on around them. Swank's character eventually finds a bit of joy in designing shoes, but that's it. Nothing will ever make her as happy as her ex-husband did. I think this speaks volumes to the natural nihilism that comes with a Godless view of life. I have some Atheist friends who could argue otherwise and be pretty persuasive, but they can't say that they have any hope for life and death working out. If they lose a loved one, they're just alone, and no one and no thing can change that.

When loved ones die it's always hard to handle. There will be grieving no matter how much hope we have, but scripture reminds us that

"But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory. "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ"

I think maybe what I'm trying to say is, if you aren't firmly rooted in Christ then death is victorious and I think that it's hard if not impossible to not have that influence every part of your life. Even if he or she can't quote 1 Corinthians 15:54-57, subliminally there has to be a nagging reminder that they have nothing but death's sting and victory. Everything else is just to keep their mind off of that fact. The hobbies, the jobs, and the relationships are all there to distract from the fact that eventually all that group has is death victorious which is why it makes perfect sense for Hillary Swank's character to have no hope. She wasn't just torn from her one true love, she was thrust back into the heart of her problem, that death wins and she is feeling it's sting.

How would the movie differ if she had "put on the imperishable"? I can't say for sure. I know for myself, I'd be shattered if I lost Jennie. Though, I have hope and I know that death has no victory because it had no victory over Christ. I'd cry and I'd pull away, I'd be testy and I'd miss her, but I'd know that I wasn't alone. I wouldn't be confronted with the nihilistic absence of hope and goodness, I'd see Christ comforting me and reminding me that He is victorious. Death has lost it's power and it's sting.

Maybe you're going through something like what the movie portrays or you've got a situation that is even more difficult. If you have repented of your sins and trusted that Christ is all that things He claims in scripture then you have hope. Hope in spite of your situation, hope in love and hope in loss. Don't lose sight of where that hope comes from and you won't lose sight of that hope.